Car-door device



mews

Aug.: 26 v 39% W. E. WHNE CAR boon DEVICE Filed New; 16

L I V gmmtoz Patented Aug. 26, 1924.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM E. WINE, OF TOLEDO, OHIO.

CAB-DOOR. DEVICE.

Application filed November 16, 1923. Serial No. 675,098.

7 '0 all whom it may concem:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. WINE, a citizen of the United States, residin at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and gtate of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Door Devices; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to railway cars and more particularly to an improved hopper construction and door arrangement therefor, together with improved means for supporting the doors whereby the weight thereof will be sustained by the car sills.

An important object of my invention, generally stated, consists in providing in combination with an inclined hopper structure having a door hinged thereto, of upright load sustaining hooks adapted to maintain said door in a substantially horizontal plane, said hooks being so arranged as to be easily accessible to an operator having occasion to open or close the door.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the combination and arrangement of the several parts to be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features whereof will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings chosen to illustrate the single embodiment of the invention:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of the hopper construction of a railway car.

Fi re 2 is a cross section on the line 22 of Figure 1.

Throughout the drawings like parts are designated by corresponding reference characters.

Referrin more particularly to the drawings, a typical hopper car is shown as provided with a side sill 1 to the inner side of which is secured a pair of metal strap membersorbails2which may preferably be held in position by transversely arranged bolts 3. These bails are inclined downwardly and inwardly with respect to the side wall of the car and constitute supports for the hop er which includes an outer inclined wall which may be formed of planking 4 overlying and secured to the bails 2 by suitable fastening means such, for instance, as bolts 5. The hopper further includes other lanking 6 which extends transversely of t car and which is so arranged as to define downwardly converging hopper end walls. The discharge opening in the hopper is defined by the edge 7 of the inclined side wall formed by the planks 4. This construction provides a hopper in which the side and end wall converge downwardly and inwardly and thus provide a discharge opening located inwardly of the side walls of the car and near the center of the track. Such hopper construction is desirable where bins are located between the rails of the track and is particularly advantageous in that the material, when discharged from the car into such bins, will not pile over the rails and interfere with the movement of the car along the track.

To close the discharge opening in the bottom of the hopper I preferably provide a pair of doors 8 extending transversely of the car and hinged at their remote edges to the lower ends of the end hopper walls defined by the planking 6. The hinge structure for each door may include a leaf 9 suitably secured, as by bolts 10 or the like, to the underside of the door and are pivoted by a pintle 11 to a leaf 12 which is also suitably secured to the adjacent bail or strap member 2 preferably by means of rivets 13. When in normal or closed position the doors are substantially horizontally arranged with their adjacent edges close together so as to form a substantial closure for the ho per discharge opening. Secured upon t e underside of each door and preferably in spaced relation to the free edge thereof, is a stiffening bar, arm or spreader 14 held by bolts 15 or the like. This arm extends outwardly to a considerable distance beyond the lower edge of the hopper side wall so as to form a door supporting member which will lie within easy reach of an operator standing alongside the car. These arms may be formed of any commercial rolled section.

The construction of ihopper, while possessing many advantages, as pointed out above, renders the application of door securing hooks of the usual type exceedingly difficult since the angularitv of the hopper side wall is so great that hooks connected thereto will be out of reach of the operator unless the operator should go between the trucks of the car and in such position the danger to him is exceedingly great. Moreover, by placing the hooks on this exceedingly sharp angle the friction generated between the hooks and the hook brackets is sufficient to prevent the free 311(1111- tended operation of the hooks by gravlty. Attention is also called to the fact that if the hooks were applied to the inclined side hopper wall the angularity of the hooks with respect to the door arm or spreader would be so great as to prevent adequate bearing between the hook face and the door arm when the hook was in locked position. To overcome these numerous difficulties I provide a metal apron plate 16, the upper portion 17 thereof being adapted to he against the outer face of the hopper end wall and the lower portion 18 being deflected at an angle to said upper portionand preferably being arranged in a substantially vertical plane. The upper portion of the apron plate is preferably secured to the adjacent planking 4; by bolts 19 and is of such length that its end portions 20 overlie and are connected to the bails 2 by rivets 21. Secured upon the outer face of the vertical portion 18 of the apron plate are brackets 22 within which are pivoted, as at 23, door supporting hooks 24 of a well known type having a plurality of ledges 25 adapted to selectively engage beneath the stiffening bars or arm 14: for holding the doors in closed or slightly open position depending upon which ledge of the hook is in engagement with the hook engaging portion of the door arm or spreader member. Pivoted locking pawls 26 of any suitable type may also be provided formaintaining the hooks in their door locking position. The project ing outer ends of the stiffening arms or spreader members 14 are preferably pro-' vided with alined holes 27v so that a pry bar or lever may be inserted in either opening to force the companion door to closed position; By providing an apron plate bridging and secured to the bails 2 it is evident that I have effected a bracing action which tends to insure rigidity of the hopper construction, and by utilizing the apron plate which is rigidly connected not only to the hopper wall but to the bails 2, the weight of the doors and the load supported thereon is in turn sustained by the hooks and the load upon the hooks is transmitted to the side sills of the car. The vertical disposition of the supporting hooks.

and their arrangement outwardly of the side edges of the discharge opening and the side edges of the doors makes them accessible to an operator without placing such person in danger.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

l. A railway car having a side sill, a hopper extending below the side sill and having a wall sloping downwardly and inwardly therefrom, spaced bails suspended from the side sill and supporting the hopper wall, a door adapted to close the bottom of the hopper, and a metallic member connected to and spanning said bails forming a support for a door supporting mechanism.

2A railway car having a hopper including a downwardly and inwardly sloping side wall, a door adapted to close the bottom of the hopper, said door lying approximately in a horizontal plane when in closed position, and a supporting member having a portion securedaga-inst the outer face of said sloping hopper wall and having another portion arranged substantially at right angles to the plane of the closed door, and a door supporting mechanism pivotallv attached to said last mentioned portion and adapted forsupporting cooperation with the door.

3. In a railway car having a side sill, a hopper having a side wall thereof inclined downwardly and inwardly with respect to the side sill, a. door for closing the bottom of the hopper, an apron plate of angular formation having its upper portion conforming to and secured against the outside of said inclined wall and having its lower portion depending vertically, and means carried by said apron plate for supporting the door in closed position.

4. In a railway car having a side sill, a hopper having a side wall sloping downwardly and inwardly from the sill, spaced bails carried by the sill and supporting said hopper wall, a door for normally closing the bottom of the hopper, an apron plate of angular formation having its upper portion secured to and conformingly engaging said side wall and having its lower portion depending vertically, the upper portion having extensions secured to said bails, and means mounted on the depending portion of the aprpn for supporting the door in closed position.

5. In a railway car having a side sill, a hopper including a side wall sloping downwardly and inwardly with respect to the sill, a door hinged on a pintle extending transversely of the car and adapted to close the bottom of th hopper, an angular apron plate secured to said wall of the hopper and having a vertically depending portion, and' pivoted means on said depending portion engageable wlth a member connected to the door for holding the same in closed position.

6. In a railway car having a side sill, a hopper including a side wall sloping downwardly and inwardly with respect to the sill, a hinged door for normally closing thebottom of the hopper, a supporting member of angular formation having one portion seill cured and conforming to said hopper wall and having a vertically depending portion spaced from the side edge of the door, and

moan-roe means depending from said supporting member adapted to engage an arm connected to the door for holding the same in closed position.

7. In a railway car having a side sill, a hopper including a downwardly and inwardly sloping side wall, a supporting member of angular formation having its upper portion conforming to and fastened onto said hopper wall and having its lower portion depending vertically, a hinged door normally closing the bottom of the hopper, a stifl'ening arm carrled by the door and extending transversely of the car, and means carried by the vertical portion of said supporting member engageable with said stiffening arm for holding the door in closed position.

8. In a railway car, a side sill, a hopper having a side wall sloping downwardly and inwardly with respect to the sill, a hinged door for closing the bottom of the hopper, spaced bails carried by the sill, a supporting member secured to said bails and having a portion depending vertically in spaced relation to the side edge of the door, and door supporting mechanism carried by said depending portion.

9. In a railway car having a side sill, a hopper including a side wall sloping downwardly and inwardly with respect to the sill, a door for closing the bottom of the hopper, spaced bails secured to the sill, an apron plate spanning said bails and having a depending portion spaced from the side edge of the door, and means on said depending portion adapted to engage an arm connected to the door for holding the samein closed position.

10. In a railway car having a side sill, bails secured to the sill, a hopper having a side wall secured to said bails, the bailsand the side wall being in conforming engagement and sloping downwardly and inwardly with respect to the sill, a door extending transversely of the car for closing the bottom of the hopper, an apron late spanning the bails and having an angu ar portion secured thereto and to the hopper wall and further having a depending portion spaced from the side edge of the door, a stifiening arm carried by the underside of the door and projecting outwardly beyond said depending portion, and supporting mechanism carried by said depending portion engageable with said stiiiening arm for holding the door in closed position.

11. In a railway car having a side sill, a

hopper having a side wall sloping downwardly and inwardly with respect to the sill, spaced supporting means carried by the sill and conformingly engaging and supporting said hopper wall, a door for normally closing the bottom of the hopper, a supporting element secured to said spaced supporting means and having a depending portion spaced outwardly of the door edge, and mechanism on said depending portion adapted to engage an arm connected to the door for holding the same in closed position.

12. In a railway car having a side wall, a hopper having an inclined wall sloping downwardly and inwardly from the lower ed e of the side wall and having its foot defining one of the edges of a discharge opening, a swinging door adapted to close the hopper discharge opening, the door lying approxlmatel in a horizontal plane when closed and belng located with the axis of its hinge pintles extending transversely of the car, the side edge of the door extending slightly beyond the foot of the inclined wall and terminating inwardly of the plane of the car side wall, an arm attached to the door and extending outwardly to near the plane of the car wall, a supporting member attached to the inclined hopper wall and depending therefrom in a substantially vertical plane, and a latch mechanism pivoted on said supporting member and ada ted for engagement with said arm for hol ing the door in closed position.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WILLIAM E. WINE. 

